Year In Review
Just another random posting. Figured folks might be interested in what drew people here in 2009. Yeah, it's about 3 weeks late, but better than posting it in June, right? :)
Top 10 Google Search Queries
1. "empire of the iguanadons" - Why people would specifically search for the title of the site is beyond me. But they did, and in large numbers.
2. "medievia" - Not as much of a surprise given where links to my site show up most. I expect this won't be nearly as prominent in 2010.
3. "iguanadons" - I think these show up here largely because it's a common typo for Iguanodon, a type of dinosaur. Though I'm probably a dinosaur in my own right.
4. "oblivion plugins" - Shouldn't come as a great shock to anyone who has followed more recent postings. What's shocking is that it rose so quickly from complete obscurity in 2008.
5. "iguanas" - The pictures alone probably draw these in.
6. "empire iguanadons" - Lump these in with #1 really.
7. "lakota" - It's like the Energizer Bunny of blog posts. People are still linking it in droves, and people still show up here in searches for it.
8. "2009 obama agenda survey" - This one surprises me mainly because I can't be the only person to have posted something on it.
9. "9/11/01/2996" - This is what I get for using things like this in movie reviews. No, you conspiracy theory nuts, the post has nothing to do with 9/11. (Oh jeez, just wait, the 2010 figures will be off the chart for it now!)
10. "mudbytes" - In two short months, it lept up from nowhere to the #10 slot. I doubt I need to explain why.
Top 10 Visited Pages
1. The root node. Which I guess is good, because it means a lot of people are showing up from links to that.
2. Lakota Independence Perhaps the reason the topic won't die is because there's a surprisingly large number of people linking into that specific page.
3. MudBytes Backstabbers From non-existence to 3rd most visited page here. Jesus people. Maybe just a reflection on today's culture over all that a rant post rockets to such popularity in so short a time. 2 1/2 months. Amazing.
4. Thought Police I hardly expected that topic to register with very many people. I guess I was wrong. Though partial credit has to go to #3 for this one since several anons skewed the figures.
5. The downloads page. It's not like I have a lot here folks, but you guys sure seem to love it all the same!
6. The image gallery, and further broken down, over 95% of you are sifting through the Oblivion stuff. Which isn't a surprise since it makes up the largest chunk.
7. The Medievia page. No doubt heavily visited due to how heavily sig-linked it is. Yes, I deliberately linked the keyword to the page URL. I'm just that mean.
8. Saviors of Cyrodiil That one goes back quite a long way and yet seems to have gained quite the following for some reason.
9. My Radeon 4870 X2 review/rant. I must have done something right, or got someone's attention somewhere because a whole bunch of people have read it.
10. Fallout 3 I guess more people than I figured ended up reading it.
I won't bother listing referral sites since they're all from image searches. Except for the #1 slot, which Dwip can take a bow for as my most frequent referral source :)
Oh, and hey, all you lurkers, speak up. Say something! We don't bite. Much.
.........................
"It is pointless to resist, my son." -- Darth Vader
"Resistance is futile." -- The Borg
"Mother's coming for me in the dragon ships. I don't like these itchy clothes, but I have to wear them or it frightens the fish." -- Thurindil
Well. I guess that's that then.
@Conner: Driveway repairs and rock/earth moving are definitely a couple of the really fun parts of rural life. Done that a few times. Good fun.
As to the rest of this, sheesh. Makes me glad I was a hermit builder type.
As to the rest of this, sheesh. Makes me glad I was a hermit builder type.
Regarding the fun at MB: Sounds like Davion and Kiasyn dug themselves into a nice deep hole this time, with Cratylus' aide naturally. Makes me very glad that I'm not actively watching, let alone involved, anymore.
Regarding Talon: I agree, it's much safer to question the identity of folks on there, especially when the person in question is known to have left IMC completely some time ago. On the other hand, I suppose this situation proves that Talon was a good idea even if it leaves some obvious gaping security issues, particularly when it comes to identities.
Regarding the driveway: The real fun is, as we saw over the summer when we dug our burn pit, you have to catch the ground somewhere still damp enough to be able to break the soil with a shovel but when it's not so saturated that it's too heavy to move, so in the end we'll probably go with a combination of the two solutions. I'll move just enough dirt to loosely fill in the big holes that are currently puddles in a few days when they dry enough to be able to see their bottoms and then I'll pay for several truck loads of gravel to be able to make it actually look like a driveway instead of an extension of the dirt road that's not nearly as well packed. *L*
If I had the funds, I'd have the holes filled from a truckload of sand, then put down a sheet of engineering fabric, then overlay it all with a few truckloads of base material, and finally top it off with a few truckloads of "crush and run". I almost wish I could just asphalt the whole damn thing, but even just doing the rock resolution may be out of my budget. The reason it'd take so much is because the driveway is tear shaped and about 250 feet from the gate back to itself, and about 8-10 feet wide at the narrow points and 12 feet wide at the gate. Add to all that the fact that I've been told that, to do it right, I'd need about 6-9" depth of gravel.. relatively simple enough math, but gravel is sold by the ton (crush and run costs around $12 or so per ton and regular gravel costs around $25 per ton) and you get about a cubic yard of gravel per ton.. but you also have to pay for the delivery and how many truckloads it takes depends on the size of the truck, but the delivery fee is going to be affected by mileage and the price of diesel ..anyway, suffice it to say gravel is still much cheaper than asphalt (especially in long term maintenance) and crush and run is considerably cheaper than gravel but takes more of it to do the job. The engineering fabric is almost negligible in cost (something like $1.20 for a roll that'd be big enough to cover the entire driveway).
Regarding Talon: I agree, it's much safer to question the identity of folks on there, especially when the person in question is known to have left IMC completely some time ago. On the other hand, I suppose this situation proves that Talon was a good idea even if it leaves some obvious gaping security issues, particularly when it comes to identities.
Regarding the driveway: The real fun is, as we saw over the summer when we dug our burn pit, you have to catch the ground somewhere still damp enough to be able to break the soil with a shovel but when it's not so saturated that it's too heavy to move, so in the end we'll probably go with a combination of the two solutions. I'll move just enough dirt to loosely fill in the big holes that are currently puddles in a few days when they dry enough to be able to see their bottoms and then I'll pay for several truck loads of gravel to be able to make it actually look like a driveway instead of an extension of the dirt road that's not nearly as well packed. *L*
If I had the funds, I'd have the holes filled from a truckload of sand, then put down a sheet of engineering fabric, then overlay it all with a few truckloads of base material, and finally top it off with a few truckloads of "crush and run". I almost wish I could just asphalt the whole damn thing, but even just doing the rock resolution may be out of my budget. The reason it'd take so much is because the driveway is tear shaped and about 250 feet from the gate back to itself, and about 8-10 feet wide at the narrow points and 12 feet wide at the gate. Add to all that the fact that I've been told that, to do it right, I'd need about 6-9" depth of gravel.. relatively simple enough math, but gravel is sold by the ton (crush and run costs around $12 or so per ton and regular gravel costs around $25 per ton) and you get about a cubic yard of gravel per ton.. but you also have to pay for the delivery and how many truckloads it takes depends on the size of the truck, but the delivery fee is going to be affected by mileage and the price of diesel ..anyway, suffice it to say gravel is still much cheaper than asphalt (especially in long term maintenance) and crush and run is considerably cheaper than gravel but takes more of it to do the job. The engineering fabric is almost negligible in cost (something like $1.20 for a roll that'd be big enough to cover the entire driveway).
A week before he was sworn in, Obama jammed part two of the bank bailout down the throat of his own party — a $350 billion accomplishment.
Two days after he was sworn in, Obama banned the use of "harsh interrogation" and ordered the closing of Guantánamo.
A day later, Obama reversed George W. Bush's funding cutoff to overseas family planning organizations — saving millions of lives with the stroke of a pen.
Three days after that, Obama gave a green light to the California car-emissions standards that Bush had been blocking for six years — an important step on the road to cleaner air and a cooler planet.
Two weeks after that, Obama signed the stimulus bill — a $787 billion accomplishment.
Ten days after that, Obama formally announced America's withdrawal from Iraq.
A week later — we're in early March now — Obama erased Bush's decision to restrict federal funding for stem-cell research.
In April and June, Obama forced Chrysler and GM into bankruptcy.
In June, Obama reset the tone of our relations with the entire Arab world with a single speech — an accomplishment that the Bush administration failed to achieve despite a series of desperate PR moves (anyone remember Charlotte Beers?) and a "public diplomacy" budget of $1 billion a year.
Also in June, Obama unveiled the "Cash for Clunkers" program, a "socialist" giveaway that reanimated the corpse of our car industry — leading, for example, to the billion-dollar profit that Ford announced on Monday.
So STFU stupid redneck repubtards!
Two days after he was sworn in, Obama banned the use of "harsh interrogation" and ordered the closing of Guantánamo.
A day later, Obama reversed George W. Bush's funding cutoff to overseas family planning organizations — saving millions of lives with the stroke of a pen.
Three days after that, Obama gave a green light to the California car-emissions standards that Bush had been blocking for six years — an important step on the road to cleaner air and a cooler planet.
Two weeks after that, Obama signed the stimulus bill — a $787 billion accomplishment.
Ten days after that, Obama formally announced America's withdrawal from Iraq.
A week later — we're in early March now — Obama erased Bush's decision to restrict federal funding for stem-cell research.
In April and June, Obama forced Chrysler and GM into bankruptcy.
In June, Obama reset the tone of our relations with the entire Arab world with a single speech — an accomplishment that the Bush administration failed to achieve despite a series of desperate PR moves (anyone remember Charlotte Beers?) and a "public diplomacy" budget of $1 billion a year.
Also in June, Obama unveiled the "Cash for Clunkers" program, a "socialist" giveaway that reanimated the corpse of our car industry — leading, for example, to the billion-dollar profit that Ford announced on Monday.
So STFU stupid redneck repubtards!
A week before he was sworn in, Obama jammed part two of the bank bailout down the throat of his own party — a $350 billion accomplishment.
Two weeks after that, Obama signed the stimulus bill — a $787 billion accomplishment.
Two weeks after that, Obama signed the stimulus bill — a $787 billion accomplishment.
These are not things to be proud of. Borrowing good Chinese money to throw at bad US businesses that got themselves into this mess is never the way to solve things. Let the fuckers fail, let them fail bad and then let smart businesses buy out the mess in a fire sale. If i am irresponsible with my business i will go bankrupt and my family will be living in a station wagon, someone will buy out my assets and take over my clients and they will make money out of it.
All they have managed to do is lumber the US public with more than 1 trillion dollars of debt that they have no means to repay. Pretty retarded really. Cause at the end of the day, you will eventually have taxes the height if the Empire State Building, interest rates in the 20%'s and inflation running out of control.
Dear Mr. Anonymous, I think you've misunderstood. We were well aware of every one of those things (and plenty more as well), but we see them a bit differently than you do apparently. Allow me to demonstrate with your list by restating it as we see them:
A week before he was sworn in, Obama jammed part two of the bank bailout down the throat of his own party — a $350 billion expenditure that accomplished nothing positive even though he campaigned on a platform claiming he was opposed to the bailouts, only the first step toward spending more tax dollars than any previous president ever had.
Two days after he was sworn in, Obama banned the use of "harsh interrogation" and ordered the closing of Guantánamo, thus granting Miranda Rights to prisoners of war and violating the tenants of the Geneva Convention by continuing the "harsh interrogations" on American soil in secret rather than being honest about it and the reasons for holding such prisoners in Cuba as Bush had done.
A day later, Obama reversed George W. Bush's funding cutoff to overseas family planning organizations — spending millions of tax dollars again with the stroke of a pen on foreign interests while continuing to completely ignore issues here at home.
Three days after that, Obama gave a green light to the California car-emissions standards that Bush had been blocking for six years — an important step on the road to hurting the car industry and establishing his belief in the fraudulent "global warming" hysteria.
Two weeks after that, Obama signed the stimulus bill — another $787 billion expenditure that we couldn't afford during a recession that was bordering on full scale depression which, once again, failed to actually help the economy.
Ten days after that, Obama formally announced America's withdrawal from Iraq, and yet we're still over there this very day over a year later demonstrating to the entire world once again that Obama is all rhetoric.
A week later — we're in early March now — Obama erased Bush's decision to restrict federal funding for stem-cell research, yet another step toward trying to outspend any other president in history and all during a brutal recession.
In April and June, Obama forced Chrysler and GM into bankruptcy thus taking a huge step toward destroying the free market upon which this country was founded.
In June, Obama reset the tone of our relations with the entire Arab world with a single speech — an accomplishment that the Bush administration failed to achieve despite a series of desperate PR moves (anyone remember Charlotte Beers?) and a "public diplomacy" budget of $1 billion a year -- even at the cost of insulting the Queen of England (one of our primary allies) by doing the unthinkable and bowing before the king of foreign power even though no president in the history of our country has ever done that before because they all understood that doing so would designate that king as sovereign over our president, not to mention insulting every American who ever served in our military (myself included - you're welcome, since I know you were about to say thank you for my service to this country during time of war as a good citizen would to any veteran...) by apologizing to the muslim world for our actions and what we stand for.
Also in June, Obama unveiled the "Cash for Clunkers" program, a "socialist" giveaway that reanimated the corpse of our car industry — leading, for example, to the billion-dollar profit that Ford announced on Monday -- all in a last ditch attempt to save an industry that he personally tried to destroy. Oh, and Ford's profits had nothing to do with Obama beyond the fact that Ford had refused to accept Obama's aide because their leadership had the foresight to realize how disastrous it would be to them.
Perhaps you should go read Samson's post predicting how Obama's reign would turn out, he's been dead on with most of it.
A week before he was sworn in, Obama jammed part two of the bank bailout down the throat of his own party — a $350 billion expenditure that accomplished nothing positive even though he campaigned on a platform claiming he was opposed to the bailouts, only the first step toward spending more tax dollars than any previous president ever had.
Two days after he was sworn in, Obama banned the use of "harsh interrogation" and ordered the closing of Guantánamo, thus granting Miranda Rights to prisoners of war and violating the tenants of the Geneva Convention by continuing the "harsh interrogations" on American soil in secret rather than being honest about it and the reasons for holding such prisoners in Cuba as Bush had done.
A day later, Obama reversed George W. Bush's funding cutoff to overseas family planning organizations — spending millions of tax dollars again with the stroke of a pen on foreign interests while continuing to completely ignore issues here at home.
Three days after that, Obama gave a green light to the California car-emissions standards that Bush had been blocking for six years — an important step on the road to hurting the car industry and establishing his belief in the fraudulent "global warming" hysteria.
Two weeks after that, Obama signed the stimulus bill — another $787 billion expenditure that we couldn't afford during a recession that was bordering on full scale depression which, once again, failed to actually help the economy.
Ten days after that, Obama formally announced America's withdrawal from Iraq, and yet we're still over there this very day over a year later demonstrating to the entire world once again that Obama is all rhetoric.
A week later — we're in early March now — Obama erased Bush's decision to restrict federal funding for stem-cell research, yet another step toward trying to outspend any other president in history and all during a brutal recession.
In April and June, Obama forced Chrysler and GM into bankruptcy thus taking a huge step toward destroying the free market upon which this country was founded.
In June, Obama reset the tone of our relations with the entire Arab world with a single speech — an accomplishment that the Bush administration failed to achieve despite a series of desperate PR moves (anyone remember Charlotte Beers?) and a "public diplomacy" budget of $1 billion a year -- even at the cost of insulting the Queen of England (one of our primary allies) by doing the unthinkable and bowing before the king of foreign power even though no president in the history of our country has ever done that before because they all understood that doing so would designate that king as sovereign over our president, not to mention insulting every American who ever served in our military (myself included - you're welcome, since I know you were about to say thank you for my service to this country during time of war as a good citizen would to any veteran...) by apologizing to the muslim world for our actions and what we stand for.
Also in June, Obama unveiled the "Cash for Clunkers" program, a "socialist" giveaway that reanimated the corpse of our car industry — leading, for example, to the billion-dollar profit that Ford announced on Monday -- all in a last ditch attempt to save an industry that he personally tried to destroy. Oh, and Ford's profits had nothing to do with Obama beyond the fact that Ford had refused to accept Obama's aide because their leadership had the foresight to realize how disastrous it would be to them.
Perhaps you should go read Samson's post predicting how Obama's reign would turn out, he's been dead on with most of it.
Jesus Conner, you ninja me on my own blog? How dare you! I'd call Obama's Gestapo on you, but thankfully he hasn't put that together yet. You get to live, for now 
I wonder if StifflersMOM cares to come back and discuss all the "good" Obama has done by selling all our debt to China so they can control the destiny of our nation for us.
Also, you forgot that Obama not only forced GM into bankruptcy, he fired their CEO before that. Effectively nationalizing GM.
I have to comment on this one though. The cash bleeding aside, if you think "family planning" means "help raising the kids" you're sadly mistaken. That's Democrat code for "abortion clinics". Instead of saving millions of lives with the stroke of a pen, he's condemned millions more around the world to die as part of the overall Progressive agenda to exterminate the lower classes. I for one don't much care for the idea of my tax dollars being sent to foreign countries to slaughter their innocent unborn.
I wonder if StifflersMOM cares to come back and discuss all the "good" Obama has done by selling all our debt to China so they can control the destiny of our nation for us.
Also, you forgot that Obama not only forced GM into bankruptcy, he fired their CEO before that. Effectively nationalizing GM.
A day later, Obama reversed George W. Bush's funding cutoff to overseas family planning organizations — saving millions of lives with the stroke of a pen.
I have to comment on this one though. The cash bleeding aside, if you think "family planning" means "help raising the kids" you're sadly mistaken. That's Democrat code for "abortion clinics". Instead of saving millions of lives with the stroke of a pen, he's condemned millions more around the world to die as part of the overall Progressive agenda to exterminate the lower classes. I for one don't much care for the idea of my tax dollars being sent to foreign countries to slaughter their innocent unborn.
Um, sorry? (Guess I don't hang out with enough of the younger set often enough or something, but I don't know what that actually means.. the: "you ninja me..." part.)
I imagine she'd love to, thankfully she hasn't made an appearance yet, eh? :D
Nah, didn't forget, I was trying to limit my commentary this time to what Anonymous posted, but that probably was a point worth including since it was part of the package of what he did for the car industry, or at least those parts of it that were foolish enough to accept his "help".
I'm really too outraged at the sheer quantity of tax dollars being sent overseas rather than getting used here to really care if it's for helping orphans, feeding poor, or even slaughtering unborn children. But I can see your point. Ultimately, I think Mr(s). Anonymous was a bit too concerned with proving we are all just "stupid redneck repubtards" to realize how stupid his/her post would make them look here.
I imagine she'd love to, thankfully she hasn't made an appearance yet, eh? :D
Nah, didn't forget, I was trying to limit my commentary this time to what Anonymous posted, but that probably was a point worth including since it was part of the package of what he did for the car industry, or at least those parts of it that were foolish enough to accept his "help".
I'm really too outraged at the sheer quantity of tax dollars being sent overseas rather than getting used here to really care if it's for helping orphans, feeding poor, or even slaughtering unborn children. But I can see your point. Ultimately, I think Mr(s). Anonymous was a bit too concerned with proving we are all just "stupid redneck repubtards" to realize how stupid his/her post would make them look here.Well in this context, "ninja" means you beat me to what I was going to say. It isn't limited to the younger set as far as I can tell, but does show up in forums they occupy more often. Usually being ninja'd means I actually post nearly the same response as you, but I hadn't quite gotten to starting my response so it's only a token ninja
There are justified uses for tax dollars being spent overseas. Funding foreign abortion farms is not one of them. The myriad of other foreign grants we send out should really be loans, but I think we're all smart enough to know they'd never get paid back anyway. Maybe we should just do the same with China and tell them we're not paying
There are justified uses for tax dollars being spent overseas. Funding foreign abortion farms is not one of them. The myriad of other foreign grants we send out should really be loans, but I think we're all smart enough to know they'd never get paid back anyway. Maybe we should just do the same with China and tell them we're not paying
Ah, learned something new.
I suppose that there are, but on a personal level I find it really hard to see a valid justification for overseas spending while not spending on homefront needs. Either way, I would certainly agree that foreign abortion farms are not justified overseas expenses even in good times. I'd also agree that these days most of the national debt (both what we owe and what we're owed) are basically mere paper trails anyway, but I suspect China already knows this as well as we do.
I suppose that there are, but on a personal level I find it really hard to see a valid justification for overseas spending while not spending on homefront needs. Either way, I would certainly agree that foreign abortion farms are not justified overseas expenses even in good times. I'd also agree that these days most of the national debt (both what we owe and what we're owed) are basically mere paper trails anyway, but I suspect China already knows this as well as we do.
Cratyfuck spewed forth: said:
I think that every Alpha Poster here has undergone one series of trials or
another, questioning her sincerity, or reliability, or competence, etc. This
is not because hostility is a valued norm here. It is because a pitiless
desire for accurate fact is a valued norm here.
I think that every Alpha Poster here has undergone one series of trials or
another, questioning her sincerity, or reliability, or competence, etc. This
is not because hostility is a valued norm here. It is because a pitiless
desire for accurate fact is a valued norm here.
Bwahahahahah! Fucking cocksucker. Hostility is all you value! If accurate fact was more important, Samson would still be a fucking admin you piece of shit!
Bwahahahahah! Fucking cocksucker. Hostility is all you value! If accurate fact was more important, Samson would still be a fucking admin you piece of shit!
Why don't you go tell this to crat, Mr Tough Guy, you are preaching to the converted here, and, well, for the most part, we don't give a crap. Grow some anonymous balls and go to dead souls and tell crat how you feel in person. I'm sure he will tollerate you for a little while, and when you push the right buttons he will block you.
@Conner, im sucked you have never heard of ninjaing before, in Eve online, a good way to make money early on is to ninja salvage, pretty much you get a cheep ship with a big cargo hold, load it with salvagers, tractor beams and a probe launcher, then you go out and probe down a site where someone is running a mission etc, then you fly in and salvage all the wrecks, it pisses off the person whose wrecks you are salvaging, but there is nothing they can do about it.
@The_Fury: "sucked" is a new term on me too.. but I don't play Eve online, nor WoW, nor most of the other MMORPGs out there. *shrug*
LOL yeah i meant to write SHOCKED, i could make excuses for the typo but i can't think of a good enough lie to tell you 
ATTENTION AUSTRALIAN MEDIA:
You may have heard of a group called "Anonymous" making a stand against Government Censorship.
Though not an organised group as such, the motives of all involved in the actual cause are purely benevolent.
Certain individuals would have you believe that this protest is being staged as a retaliation for the Government "messing with our porn". This, however, is completely untrue. Just as in any protest there are those who are only in it for the spoils, the same can be said in this instance.
The Australian Federal Government would have you believe that the proposed internet filtering system will protect children. Several experts have spoken against this, as it will instead lure parents into a false sense of security. Not only that, the proposed filter would also slow internet speeds by an average of 30% and block innocent websites. The prototype filter blocked many innocent sites including that of a Sydney dentist, a canteen lady, and several other businesses.
It is the opinion of all parents aware of this issue that the responsibility for protecting their children should remain securely in their hands. An arbitrary decision such as this on the part of the Australian Government voids basic parental rights.
The Federal Government has entered into discussions with Google, regarding their aim to censor YouTube. Google is against such action, as YouTube already forbids illegal material. The government wishes to extend censorship to cover subjects such as euthanasia - an aim that Google is strongly opposed to, due to their stance on free speech. Discussion of controversial subjects is vital for democracy to exist.
This proposed "solution" by the Australian Federal Government will not in fact make any progress towards solving the issues being targeted.
Concealing the existence of a problem from the public can not and will not ever solve the problem itself.
You may have heard of a group called "Anonymous" making a stand against Government Censorship.
Though not an organised group as such, the motives of all involved in the actual cause are purely benevolent.
Certain individuals would have you believe that this protest is being staged as a retaliation for the Government "messing with our porn". This, however, is completely untrue. Just as in any protest there are those who are only in it for the spoils, the same can be said in this instance.
The Australian Federal Government would have you believe that the proposed internet filtering system will protect children. Several experts have spoken against this, as it will instead lure parents into a false sense of security. Not only that, the proposed filter would also slow internet speeds by an average of 30% and block innocent websites. The prototype filter blocked many innocent sites including that of a Sydney dentist, a canteen lady, and several other businesses.
It is the opinion of all parents aware of this issue that the responsibility for protecting their children should remain securely in their hands. An arbitrary decision such as this on the part of the Australian Government voids basic parental rights.
The Federal Government has entered into discussions with Google, regarding their aim to censor YouTube. Google is against such action, as YouTube already forbids illegal material. The government wishes to extend censorship to cover subjects such as euthanasia - an aim that Google is strongly opposed to, due to their stance on free speech. Discussion of controversial subjects is vital for democracy to exist.
This proposed "solution" by the Australian Federal Government will not in fact make any progress towards solving the issues being targeted.
Concealing the existence of a problem from the public can not and will not ever solve the problem itself.
Yes, I've heard about this "Operation Titstorm" that's all the rage right now. You might have missed where this isn't an Australian media site though.
I find the comment about Google pretty funny. If they're such staunch supporters of free speech, why did they allow the Chinese government to censor Google in China? Google's stance on free speech only seems to come out when it won't harm their profit margins or when they catch hackers rooting around in their servers.
I find the comment about Google pretty funny. If they're such staunch supporters of free speech, why did they allow the Chinese government to censor Google in China? Google's stance on free speech only seems to come out when it won't harm their profit margins or when they catch hackers rooting around in their servers.
ATTENTION AUSTRALIAN MEDIA:
Who cares, i am Australian and i don't give a rats ass about the whole thing. It will not impact on my internet usage as i do not surf sites that would contain illegal, racist or other illegal materials and i don't surf porn. So my freedoms as an individual are not going to be impinged upon. In fact, the vast majority of regular law abiding citizens surf pretty much as I do and they too will have no great issue with these measures being introduced.
Filtering porn, warez, hacks, racist, hate and information relating to illegal activities I support fully. This might impact a small minority of people who think it is their god given right to look up kiddy porn, animal porn, race hate, plans to make atomic, car or people bombs etc. Criminal activity and access to materials to conduct said activities is not the right of any citizen and I fully support the removal of access to such information, if it is actually possible.
@Samson: you are correct, google does not care about free speech, it cares about google and the almighty $$. For sure China is about freedom of speech with things like Tianiman Square, but the blocking of child porn or other illegal activities is not the removal of ones right to free speech, its the denial of ones choice to perform and illegal activity.
Free speech should be a right in any free society, but if that right causes a harm to another individual, then the government has the right to limit or stop such an action. This is a basic principle of the major ethical theories that make up democratic society. See liberalism, consequentialism, utilitarianism, and the works of Locke, Rawls and Kant.
Well ok, here's the thing. I went and checked into this little game Anonymous seems to be playing with the Australian government. In a nutshell, this is what I get from it:
* Aussie government bans porn with women who have small breasts.
* Aussie government bans porn depicting female ejaculation.
I see why they're up in arms about it. Small breasted women in porn is perfectly legal. Provided they're above the age of consent in Australia. The government's argument is that it too closely resembles child pornography. CP is illegal in pretty much every country already as far as I know. Last I checked, small breasted women are nothing new.
The female ejaculation thing I simply don't get. The claim is that it looks too much like female urination. Is it seriously illegal to show pictures of female urination in Australia? If so, I'd say you're already well on the way to destruction since there's nothing illegal about that as far as I know. Barring it being children of course.
Censorship is evil and wrong and should be fought. This is where I part ways with Anonymous though. You do not make right a grievous evil by committing one yourself. Hacking a computer network is illegal. If the Australian government decides to go hardline about this, a whole mess of Anonymous members around the world are going to get busted and taken to jail. You don't really get much of anywhere on an issue like this from a jail cell.
Your argument of "well I'm not doing anything wrong" sounds an awful lot like the attitude a lot of Germans had prior to WWII. Eventually a lot of them were accused of doing something wrong even if they hadn't simply because they spoke out. Even worse still were the people hauled off who laid low and stayed out of it. It's a very dangerous way to think, because for now it's small boobs and female ejaculation. Next it might be Anime (not that I like that crap) and after that it could be edgy comedy with sexual jokes. Where do you stop? The slippery slope is well oiled.
* Aussie government bans porn with women who have small breasts.
* Aussie government bans porn depicting female ejaculation.
I see why they're up in arms about it. Small breasted women in porn is perfectly legal. Provided they're above the age of consent in Australia. The government's argument is that it too closely resembles child pornography. CP is illegal in pretty much every country already as far as I know. Last I checked, small breasted women are nothing new.
The female ejaculation thing I simply don't get. The claim is that it looks too much like female urination. Is it seriously illegal to show pictures of female urination in Australia? If so, I'd say you're already well on the way to destruction since there's nothing illegal about that as far as I know. Barring it being children of course.
Censorship is evil and wrong and should be fought. This is where I part ways with Anonymous though. You do not make right a grievous evil by committing one yourself. Hacking a computer network is illegal. If the Australian government decides to go hardline about this, a whole mess of Anonymous members around the world are going to get busted and taken to jail. You don't really get much of anywhere on an issue like this from a jail cell.
Your argument of "well I'm not doing anything wrong" sounds an awful lot like the attitude a lot of Germans had prior to WWII. Eventually a lot of them were accused of doing something wrong even if they hadn't simply because they spoke out. Even worse still were the people hauled off who laid low and stayed out of it. It's a very dangerous way to think, because for now it's small boobs and female ejaculation. Next it might be Anime (not that I like that crap) and after that it could be edgy comedy with sexual jokes. Where do you stop? The slippery slope is well oiled.
Funding foreign abortion farms is not one of them.
LOL! But it's ok to kill millions of civilians in Iraq, right?
Personally, this would be far more than enough to raise red flags over all by itself:
I honestly don't recall any of us having ever said such a thing. On the other hand, from what the liberal media would have us all believe, are you entirely certain that there is such a thing as a civilian in Iraq? Personally, I do endorse the notion of ending the problems in the middle east in one fell stroke by dropping nukes, but I also fully realize that it's a totally unrealistic solution because of all the other ramifications and thus I wouldn't support using tax dollars for that if I was asked, but then I wasn't asked for approval of the spending of tax dollars on foreign abortion farms either, were you?
Anonymous said:
...the motives of all involved in the actual cause are purely benevolent.
... Just as in any protest there are those who are only in it for the spoils, the same can be said in this instance.
...the motives of all involved in the actual cause are purely benevolent.
... Just as in any protest there are those who are only in it for the spoils, the same can be said in this instance.
A presumably different "Anonymous" poster said:
LOL! But it's ok to kill millions of civilians in Iraq, right?
Samson said:
Funding foreign abortion farms is not one of them.
Funding foreign abortion farms is not one of them.
LOL! But it's ok to kill millions of civilians in Iraq, right?
I honestly don't recall any of us having ever said such a thing. On the other hand, from what the liberal media would have us all believe, are you entirely certain that there is such a thing as a civilian in Iraq? Personally, I do endorse the notion of ending the problems in the middle east in one fell stroke by dropping nukes, but I also fully realize that it's a totally unrealistic solution because of all the other ramifications and thus I wouldn't support using tax dollars for that if I was asked, but then I wasn't asked for approval of the spending of tax dollars on foreign abortion farms either, were you?
@Conner: Yeah, I'm not at all convinced ANY of them have benevolent motives here. The whole thing seems more about the porn than anything else. We all know the Australian government censors things online and has been for quite some time. It would hardly surprise me to find out the Aussies have now added 4chan.org to the filtering system. Considering what that place is like, I'm surprises nobody has been arrested yet.
@Anon re Iraq: Your figures appear to be slightly off. Allow me to demonstrate. See? 104,000 is significantly smaller than unspecified millions. And this even appears to be a left wing biased website, so the numbers are probably inflated. As far as I can tell they're also not being terribly specific about who they accuse of doing the killing. Some bombings are listed, some executions by gunfire. No separation between the civilians we killed and the ones their own people killed. War is hell. Civilian casualties cannot be avoided when the civilians become the combatants.
I think what you are confused by is this. Saddam Hussein did kill millions of people. Millions of his own people. Spread out over 2 decades. He also killed quite a large number of Iranians too. He did this through the use of chemical weapons. But I bet you're one of these people who would have called him a freedom fighter rather than a terrorist mass murderer.
@Anon re Iraq: Your figures appear to be slightly off. Allow me to demonstrate. See? 104,000 is significantly smaller than unspecified millions. And this even appears to be a left wing biased website, so the numbers are probably inflated. As far as I can tell they're also not being terribly specific about who they accuse of doing the killing. Some bombings are listed, some executions by gunfire. No separation between the civilians we killed and the ones their own people killed. War is hell. Civilian casualties cannot be avoided when the civilians become the combatants.
I think what you are confused by is this. Saddam Hussein did kill millions of people. Millions of his own people. Spread out over 2 decades. He also killed quite a large number of Iranians too. He did this through the use of chemical weapons. But I bet you're one of these people who would have called him a freedom fighter rather than a terrorist mass murderer.
Regarding Australia: Frankly it still doesn't sound nearly as tough as the national internet restrictions in China, and while I'd certainly be proud to stand up for the rights of small breasted women to bear their bodies for all the men they want to, I think this sounds like a bunch of hoopla over nothing. But I also think PETA should demonstrate and protest much more frequently too solely because I enjoy the show, not at all because I think they're right... on the other hand, even PETA gets it right now and then, even if our own government has declared them terrorists for their nonsensical methods and convictions... (Yes, both the purl=http://digg.com/food_drink/USDA_Classifies_PETA_as_Terrorists]USDA[/url] and the FBI have declared them officially terrorist organizations now, albeit for different reasons, despite their own claims to not support terrorism/violence and to just be modern tree huggers....) Oops, did I just take this thread even further from anything resembling the original topic?
Regarding Iraq: You know, if Anonymous is saying we're being hypocritical by being opposed to funding foreign abortion clinics while not being opposed to killing millions of Iraq civilians (god only know where (s)he got the notion we supported that to begin with), perhaps (s)he should look at it as simply a massively large scale government funded (free to the participants, in fact) foreign post-natal abortion farm called Iraq... then (s)he could be opposed to the foreign abortion farms along with us instead of arguing silly non-issues.
Regarding Iraq: You know, if Anonymous is saying we're being hypocritical by being opposed to funding foreign abortion clinics while not being opposed to killing millions of Iraq civilians (god only know where (s)he got the notion we supported that to begin with), perhaps (s)he should look at it as simply a massively large scale government funded (free to the participants, in fact) foreign post-natal abortion farm called Iraq... then (s)he could be opposed to the foreign abortion farms along with us instead of arguing silly non-issues.
I think the point of small breasted women, is not so much the breast size, it is to do mostly with certain type of teen porn where young women are made to look even younger thus making some kind of legalized pedo porn. I would have to go and look directly at the legislation proposals to confirm this, but i do remember hearing something about this on the radio.
I would support the abolition of sudo kiddy porn, as i feel that has the potential to cause more harm than good, and lets face it, if you want to look at sudo kiddy porn, you have some serious issues to begin with. However restricting porn based on small breasts seems just plain stupid, if that what the actual plan calls for,
I have no idea about the female ejaculation plans or why it would be banned at all. It is a normal part of life for a lot of men and women and natural acts should be embraced by society, not shunned.
I would support the abolition of sudo kiddy porn, as i feel that has the potential to cause more harm than good, and lets face it, if you want to look at sudo kiddy porn, you have some serious issues to begin with. However restricting porn based on small breasts seems just plain stupid, if that what the actual plan calls for,
I have no idea about the female ejaculation plans or why it would be banned at all. It is a normal part of life for a lot of men and women and natural acts should be embraced by society, not shunned.
@Conner: I think you'd be surprised. Bouncing around articles about the subject seems to indicate Australia's "great firewall" is actually more effective than China's. It may sound like a lot of hoopla over nothing, but the US and UK governments are both watching what's going on as a test to see if they'd get away with the same thing. This really isn't about the porn, even though I suspect the porn is the only reason Anonymous sprang to action. It's about the broader issue of censorship.
@The_Fury: Good luck abolishing porn of any sort. Even the restrictions and laws in place to ban CP haven't been worth a shit. It's out there, and those people who want it know where to find it.
Ultimately, this particular case comes down to what Australians want. If the majority of your countrymen want censorship, they'll get it. Just don't be surprised when it doesn't stop with fringe porn.
@The_Fury: Good luck abolishing porn of any sort. Even the restrictions and laws in place to ban CP haven't been worth a shit. It's out there, and those people who want it know where to find it.
Ultimately, this particular case comes down to what Australians want. If the majority of your countrymen want censorship, they'll get it. Just don't be surprised when it doesn't stop with fringe porn.
. It's about the broader issue of censorship.
Well, we all have censorship to varying degrees in all aspects of our everyday lives, why should the internet be any different. Tv, newsprint, radio, magazines, literary works all have censorship applied to them by editors, censor boards and the like.
I do not see anyone here being up in arms about how sudo kiddy porn is censored from prime time tv, or for that matter that hard core porn is censored off pay tv, or that hard core porn is not available in supermarkets or dvd stores, why should we care all that much if it is censored off the internet also.
I know that a lot of people see the internet as this vast untouchable where anything and everything goes, but that day is going to end sometime as government and law enforcement move to restrict certain activities on the internet and to control illegal activities.
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